Wednesday, October 12, 2016

I Hate Ironing

I really do. Except, sometimes, when I'm really upset or sad or stressed, I'll iron all of our bed linen. It's therapeutic and satisfying (not to mention, it feels amazing to crawl into a bed with sheets and pillow covers that are ultra crisp, cool, and smooth!). But otherwise? I hate ironing. Particularly, John's shirts, which our cleaner conveniently deals with once every fortnight.

Now that it's officially fall, and the temperatures are reflecting this (i.e. goodbye, breezy summer dresses; hello, opaque black tights and oversized cashmere sweaters), I have to turn to the other pressing matter on my mind, which is the inevitable ... "dry clean only" pile. A few weeks ago, I'd separated the dry clean only pile from the rest of my laundry, placing it on the floor. Only ... well, the pile never shifted, and at one point, it looked like it was going to become a permanent part of the bedroom carpet (credit to John, who never said anything about it the whole two weeks it sat there in the middle of the room).

And what's with the dry cleaners that only open from 9-5? How is this even a thing? So I gave the folks at the aptly named, I Hate Ironing, a call because - judging from their company name - it seemed like we were kindred spirits.

At first, I was wary. I've used similar dry cleaning collection services and the hours for pick-up and drop-off were far and few between - especially out in E17. To my surprise (and delight), however, they basically had one-hour slots available throughout the day, every single day. Desperate to wear the new cashmere Equipment sweater I'd scored on eBay (for a mind-blowing £30, mind you), I quickly booked in a collection and a friendly man showed up on my doorstep in the next evening with a laundry bag I popped my clothes into.

The very next day, my sweaters and silk dress were all returned to me, smelling fresh as a daisy, clean and hung on hangers. Delivered to my door. At a time that was convenient to me.

'There must be a downside!' I can hear you shouting. And yes, there is - it's pretty pricey compared to, say, a local dry cleaner (for example, 4 sweaters and 2 dresses came out at around £50). But. But! It's not more than the dry cleaner I used to go to in Central London (but I am so not lugging my clothes back and forth on the tube in the morning - no thanks) and the fact that it's delivered to my door and I can get everything back the next day is a serious plus in my book. It's a great service for people who leave things to the last minute ... like me.

So, I can definitely see myself using I Hate Ironing again. Especially since, you know, I kind of ... hate ironing.

If you want to try I Hate Ironing for yourself, you can get £10 off your first order with my code 'jaimw4r'. Go on, treat yourself!

This post was written in collaboration with I Hate Ironing, and my order was complimentary. All opinions are my own.

This is pretty awesome. I don't even own an iron anymore so anytime my husband needs to get his fancy dress uniforms ready it's always a last-minute panic. There was a pretty expensive dry cleaner I used to go to in New York and I always thought it was worth it because I hate doing it and because you want your clothes to be taken care of well. Hawaii needs to get on board with this!

I'm not quite sure how I missed you were in Hawaii, Carolann! But yes ... it's obviously a first world problem, so I shouldn't complain, but I'm such a sucker for anything that makes my life *that* much easier!